Breadcrumbs (BreadcrumbList)
Breadcrumbs are the row of links near the top of a web page that shows where the page sits on the site, like Home > Services > Roof Repair. Google's guide says a trail helps people move back up a site one level at a time, and that markup called BreadcrumbList helps Google sort the page in search results.
Source: Google Search Central, How to add breadcrumb (BreadcrumbList) markup (last updated September 8, 2026), checked October 29, 2026
What Breadcrumbs (BreadcrumbList) means for your business
Breadcrumbs come in two parts: the trail visitors see, and the BreadcrumbList code that describes it to search engines. Google's guide says to show a typical path someone would take to the page, instead of copying your URL folders. It also lists the breadcrumb display in search results as a desktop feature.
We'd treat a trail as a plain label for what a page belongs to. A roof repair page that sits under Services tells a reader, and gives Google one more clue, that roof repair is something you sell.
When we review a site, we check that the visible trail and the code match, that every page has one, and that the code passes Google's Rich Results Test. If the trail at the top of your pages is missing, or doesn't match where the page really belongs, sorting out how your pages fit together is part of our technical work.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited SEO plugin and tool blogs, YouTube and Google's breadcrumb guide; ChatGPT cited nothing. Both said the trail can show in Google's results, and neither said Google lists that display as desktop only.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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